For a cable system to operate correctly, it must have a residual tensile preload to assure that when one end of the cable is moved, the other end will move complementarily. For example, in parking brake and in control linkages generally, a tensile pre-load is imposed on the cable.
However, over a period of time the brake lining will wear and the cable will stretch. Accordingly a pedal or lever would have to travel farther to exert its braking effect, first to account for the cable stretch, and second to catch up with the worn lining. At the same time, the residual tension in the cable is reduced.
One known means to set an initial pre-load in a cable is shown in George S. Wing U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,155. In this patent a tension limiter is placed in the cable, and a force in excess of the desired residual pre-load is applied. In the Wing patent, the limiter yields, elongating the system until the correct tension force remains. Thereafter there is no further adjustment. This is a one-time setting, which is suitable for many installations. However, it does not provide for maintenance of the residual tension, nor for the take up of cable slack.
It is an object of this invention to provide an adjuster for a tensioned cable which takes up slack that develops in the cable, and which will establish and maintain a predetermined amount of residual tension in the cable. After installation this occurs automatically as the consequence of brake actuation in brake systems, for example.